It's Always You
by Dinosaur1212
Summary: This story follows the relationship of Alison and Emily. It is a fetus Emison relationship that starts out with them in high school. Chronicles the ups and downs of their relationship and also their relationships with others.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yeah so for the purposes of this story, -A and all that fun stuff probably isn't gonna happen. I am also not sure how far this story will go, as I've never really written anything before, so God only knows where this will go. There are some scenes I'm not comfortable writing, so if you're here for some Emison sex scenes, this is the wrong story for you.**

**Anyways, this starts out with the locker scene, but a different take on it. The way it played out on the show was always weird to me, so I'm just gonna change it up. Watch this be a one-shot I stg. Anyways enough rambling onto the story**

_Chapter 1: Confessions_

Emily was standing in the locker room waiting for Ali to finish changing from swimming so that they could go home. Ali was rambling on about something, but Emily wasn't listening, as her mind was elsewhere. In fact, she was thinking about her kiss with Ali in the library a week prior. That kiss was all she could think about, because Ali was her whole world.

Ali could tell that Emily was in a distant land in her head, but that didn't stop her from rambling. She was only rambling because Emily made her incredibly nervous, in all honesty Emily gave her butterflies, so she rambled on. Ali figured the only way to break Emily out of her trance was to simply shut up, so she did. It didn't take long for Emily to notice the sudden silence.

"I-i wasn't listening. I'm so sorry Ali, did you ask me a question?" Emily finally got out. Ali rolled her eyes and smirked at how cute Emily was being, because only Emily could make not paying attention attractive.

"Actually I didn't ask you a question. I just noticed you weren't paying attention to what I was saying, so I decided to see if you would notice," Ali paused searching Emily's eyes for that love she always saw before continuing, "And you did notice. Almost right away too."

Emily didn't know what to say to Ali in the slightest, which only caused Ali to start rambling again. "I mean, I hope I didn't take away from whatever it was you were thinking about, because you seemed so happy thinking about it, but I just wanted to-"

Unable to put up with Ali's flustered rambling, Emily cut her off by saying, "Hey, don't worry about it. It was nothing what I was thinking about," Emily looked at the ground after saying that, "Actually, I don't know what it would be considered…"

"What could you possibly mean by that?" And when Emily refused to look at her, Ali had a sneaking suspicion about the event Emily was thinking about. "Em…" Ali's face softened into a genuine smile that she only ever gave Emily, "Look at me. It's okay." Emily refused to look at her, so Ali gently placed her hand under Emily's chin, and lifted her head up to look at her. "You were thinking about our kiss in the library, weren't you?"

Emily blushed giving Alison the answer she needed. Emily, however, said, "Ali can you you finish changing? My mom's waiting, and I don't want to make her wait." Emily quickly looked away again, and missed the smile fall from Ali's face. Ali was uncertain what to say to Emily, so she just finished getting changed like Emily asked her. Both girls didn't say anything as they left the locker room and walked out to Pam's car. In fact, the car ride to the Fields' house was silent, which was unheard of, because Ali and Emily always chatted with Pam. Pam wasn't sure what happened between the two girls for them to be so quiet, but she decided to just leave it be, so that Ali and Emily could figure it out themselves.

Once at the Fields house, the two girls went up to Emily's room for a few minutes before dinner. Ali was no stranger to eating dinner at Emily's house, she ate there most nights as no one was ever home at her house. Ali felt more at home at Emily's house than she did at her own house. Pam never asked questions about her home life, and when Wayne was home, he didn't either. They both knew that Ali would give them vague answers as to what it was like, so they steered away from the topic. Instead they asked her questions about her day, questions a parent should ask their child. That's how Pam and Wayne viewed Ali, as their own child.

Ali was still waiting on an answer to the question she asked Emily in the locker room. And true to her nature, Ali wasn't afraid of pushing for an answer. "Em, are you going to answer the question? Were you thinking about our kiss in the library?"

Emily just stared at her before crossing her arms and looking away, eventually murmuring, "Why do you care so much? And even if I was, is that such a bad thing? Unless you regret it." Emily abruptly stopped talking as the realization of what she just said sunk in. "You regret it don't you?" Emily spoke at a louder volume this time, and was obviously becoming very worked up over this possibility. Alison could tell how worked up she was getting, so she went and and grabbed Emily's hands.

"What makes you think I would regret it? What makes you think I haven't been thinking about that kiss too?" Ali intertwined her fingers with Emily's, and smiled at her.

"Because you're Alison Dilaurentis! You could have any guy you want, so why would you want me? Especially since I'm not a guy! You're way out of my league too… You're actually way out of everybody's league," Emily finished her sentence in a hushed whisper that Ali could barely hear. Emily was still looking away, but it finally seemed to sink in that Ali had intertwined their fingers. "A-a-ali?" Emily managed to stutter out before eventually looking up at Ali's face to see her smile.

Ali looked at Emily's face and finally said what she had been wanting to say since that day in the library, "Who says I would want a guy? I never said I was interested in them, you made that assumption. Ever since we kissed in the library, I've been thinking about it. I've been thinking about what it means a lot, and I realized something. I realized that I am completely and totally in love with you. I think I have been since the day I met you all those years ago in Brownies. I just didn't know what the feeling was at the time, but I do now. And I can name one person that isn't out of my league, they happen to be standing right in front of me." Ali gently squeezed Emily's hands to reassure her, because Emily looked like she was ready to cry. Ali was pretty sure it was tears of happiness, because Emily's beautiful brown eyes showed nothing but pure joy in them.

Emily didn't know what to say. Here was the girl she had been madly in love with for practically her entire life declaring her love for her, Emily Fields. Emily was certain this had to be a dream, because this only ever happened in her dreams. But she knew it was no dream, because this felt more real than any of her dreams she had ever had about Alison declaring her love for her. Emily just looked at Ali and said the only thing she could think of, "I'm completely in love with you too," she paused before adding, "And it's about time you said you loved me." Emily let go of Ali's hands and wrapped her in a giant hug, and it was at that moment that Ali realized how much she needed to say those words to Emily.

Ali finally pulled away from the hug to look at Emily once more. "I'm so glad I told you how I felt. It feels like a giant weight has been lifted off my chest. You mean everything to me Emily Fields." And with that statement she moved so that she was closer to Emily's face, and kissed her, hoping to convey how much she loved Emily with that kiss.

**So uhm, yeah. That was possibly the first of many chapters for this story. I'm not really sure yet, because there are places I could take this story, it's just a matter of executing them. And there will eventually come a time for scenes that I'm not comfortable writing/ I'm unsure how to write, and I don't know how to tackle that issue yet. So we shall see**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I've decided to make this into a story as opposed to just a singular one-shot. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it! Also this chapter does kind of a complete 180 from where the last one ended, because reality sets in, so to speak. I'm not sure if it necessarily flows perfectly, and I went back on forth on how to present the info. At one point I almost completely rewrote the chapter, but decided against it, as seeing it more through Emily's eyes was better. Granted, there are portions where we get Ali's thoughts, but I thought it was appropriate at the time to show what Ali was feeling. In the end, I'm content with how this chapter ended up coming out (did I really just make a pun?), and I acknowledge if the transition from last chapter is poor. **

_Chapter 2: The Knock That Didn't Come_

Emily abruptly pulled away from the kiss, and turned towards the door when her mom called to the girls that it was time to eat. She answered her mom, hoping she didn't sound breathless, because that's what kissing Ali did to her. It made her incredibly breathless, because Ali was so amazingly perfect in her eyes. She knew Ali wasn't the nicest person at school, but Emily knew it was all an act that Ali put on, because when it was just the two of them, Ali was extremely different, she was her genuine self. Emily turned back to look at Ali and noticed that the blonde had moved away from her and was staring at the ground with an unreadable expression on her face.

Emily went to move towards Ali to talk to her, but Ali recoiled slightly. "Ali. . ." Emily paused trying to gather her thoughts hoping the blonde wasn't toying with her, "I thought you said that you liked me." Emily really didn't know what to say, because she had no idea what to say to the girl she was hopelessly in love with.

It was then that Ali looked at Emily with tears starting to form in her eyes, "I do Em, I really do like you. But that's the whole problem!" Ali ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to compose herself, which she never did in front of people. "I can't be in love with you, I just can't be. My parents would kill me, and I know yours would kill you too. So as much as I love you Emily, I can't. I-I'm sorry I kissed you, but it's so hard no to." As Alison was saying all this, Emily was getting closer to her, and eventually wrapped her arms around the blonde in a tight hug as she finished her statement.

"Ali, I don't care what my parents will think; what I care about is you. And so what if they don't approve? At least I won't end up pregnant," Emily was hoping to get a smile out of her, and she succeeded.

Ali looked up at Emily and sighed before replying, "You say you don't care what your parents say, but I know you do. I don't want them to hate me thinking I made you gay or something. I can't be responsible for that." Ali tried to get out of Emily's embrace, but Emily refused to let her go. "Em, please just let me go. Your mom called us, I don't want to make her mad if we're not down there," Ali said looking up at Emily. The brunette sighed and let go of her, and watched as she started to leave the room.

"Ali wait," Emily quickly went over to her and turned her around so they were facing each other. "Maybe I do care what my parents think, but they could never hate you. They treat you as their own child as it is. Maybe they already have an idea that we like each other, I mean anything is possible. They might not even be against the idea of me being, yanno, gay or whatever. And even if they were against it, they would come around eventually, because they love me, and they just want me to be happy. They want you to be happy too," and with that Emily placed her hand under Ali's chin and tilted her head up. "Alison Dilaurentis, you make me incredibly happy, and I'm pretty sure I do the same for you. We shouldn't let people get in the way about how we feel about each other. Life is simply too short for that," Emily smiled at the girl in front of her, hoping she would be able to get Alison to see that they should accept their feelings for each other and start dating.

Alison stared at Emily not knowing what to say, because Emily never was this bold with her feelings. She knew that Emily was usually too shy or afraid to vocalize how she really felt, so Alison was shocked by the sudden boldness. For once, Ali had no response, she had no idea what to say, so instead she did the only thing that made sense. It was made all the easier by the fact Emily was already holding her chin up, so Ali leaned closer to Emily and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips then pulled back to look at Emily. In that moment, Ali knew what she had to say, "Do you think we would work out if we dated? Because you're right when you say we shouldn't let others get in the way, but I don't want us getting in the way of our relationship."

Emily was still shocked by the kiss, and was even more shocked by what Ali said. Ali actually hinted at the fact that they could be in a relationship. "I think we would work out if we dated. It just feels like we're meant to be. Like nothing could ever tear us apart," Emily took her hand from under Ali's chin and grabbed her hand interlacing their fingers.

Alison looked at Emily torn about what to do. She knew she loved Emily-hell she'd loved Emily for years-and she had finally told Emily that. Whenever she was around Emily she was able to let down her façade that she hid behind around everyone else; the façade she only had, because that's how her mother raised her to be. But anytime she was around Emily, she felt like she could be the person she truly was. That's what she loved most about Emily, but she knew that love was a tricky line to walk. Ali wanted to believe that what Emily said was true, that they could work out, but she didn't want to risk Emily hating her if they didn't work out. She was also still scared of what her parents would think if she dated Emily, it was small town Pennsylvania after all. Ali was fighting an internal battle of asking Emily to be her girlfriend, or to ask Emily if they could stay friends. Looking at Emily's face, though, Ali couldn't settle for just being Emily's friend, ever. She had to be her girlfriend, in fact she needed to be her girlfriend. For once in her life Ali was nervous, she was nervous to ask the girl in front of her if she wanted to be her girlfriend, even though she knew what the answer would be. She wanted to make asking Emily out special, because that's what her mermaid deserved, so she smiled at Emily and said, "I have a question I really want to ask you, but it'll have to wait. Your mom has waited long enough for us," and with that she pecked Emily on the cheek with a kiss and hurried away downstairs, leaving a stunned Emily following behind her moments later.

What the two girls didn't know is that Pam had come upstairs to see what was taking the girls so long. She knew Emily said they would be down in a few minutes, but they never took this long. So Pam had gone upstairs and had made it to Emily's door and was about to knock, but she overheard what the girls were talking about before she could. Pam didn't know what to make of it at first, but then she heard Emily say that she was gay. All at once Pam was hit by an array of emotions, because she personally didn't approve, but her daughter was in there saying how her parents would love her and accept her, and that they would accept Ali as well. Pam knew her and Wayne had treated Ali like their own child, and Emily was right when she said that they wanted Ali to be happy. She listened to their conversation a little longer not knowing what to think before scurrying back downstairs when she sensed the conversation coming to a close. Pam had made it downstairs and into the dining room right when she heard the two girls start down the stairs.

Emily followed Ali into the dining room, and could immediately tell something was off with her mom. She could just tell by the way her mom was carrying herself, it was like she was fighting an internal battle. Emily was only so adept at reading her mom, because she was the exact same. They both dealt with their feelings and issues in the same manner. Emily knew asking her mom what was wrong would not answer anything, so she sat down, and everyone followed suit. Emily looked across the table at Ali and smiled momentarily forgetting something was troubling her mom. Emily failed to notice her mom carefully watching the two of them, but Ali noticed as she tended to be very observational.

Dinner went by almost as well as it usually did, as Pam tried to make her usual conversation, asking the girls about their day, and what they were doing after they ate. She was extra focused on asking the girls what they planned on doing that evening, which seemed odd to both of them. Emily shrugged it off as her mom missing her husband, so she was just being overly invested in her daughter's life, but Ali didn't know what to make of it. Pam never asked so many questions about what they would do in the evenings, and it made Ali feel like she had to tell Pam when she planned on using the bathroom. Eventually dinner wrapped up, and the girls escaped back up to Emily's room.

"Em, your mom was totally interrogating us tonight. What was with all the questions?" Alison quickly exclaimed when they had made it up to Emily's room.

Emily looked at Ali and replied, "I'm not really sure, she probably just misses my dad, so she's injecting herself into my life. Who knows honestly. But I don't believe my mom is the most important matter at hand here," and at that Emily smirked at the girl sitting next to her on her bed.

Ali sighed and rolled her eyes at the wonderful brunette next to her, "You really do have a one track mind don't you? And yes there is a more important matter, but I don't want to ask you just yet," she paused before adding, "I-i want to make it special, because you're really special to me Em."

Emily smirked, as she had an idea formulating in her head. "Well since you don't want to ask. . . I guess that leaves only one option," Emily looked at Ali hoping she got what she was hinting at. Emily took Ali's hands in hers and looked at her, "Alison Dilaurentis, you are an incredible human being, and an even better friend. I was wondering if you wanted to go one step further and be my girlfriend?" Emily looked at Ali's face and could see a loving annoyance at the fact that Emily had asked her.

"Well, I guess so. Even though you stole my thunder and everything," Ali took her hands out of Emily's and crossed her arms feigning annoyance.

Pam Fields was on her way upstairs with something that had come in the mail for Emily. She knew she was just using it as an excuse to check in on them, as she had no idea what they could be up to, in fact she now questioned every time the girls had been together. How had she failed to see how close the two girls were, how they always seemed to have to be touching one another. She felt like she had failed at some point at being a mother for not being able to realize these things. But that is what brought her to her daughter's closed door-she made a mental note that she would have to make a rule saying it would have to remain open at all times-eavesdropping on her daughter and best friend. She overheard Emily ask Ali if she wanted to be her girlfriend, and Ali's response. Fearing the worst was about to happen, Pam Fields burst into the room and exclaimed, "You two better stop whatever it is you're doing!"

**A/N: So that's where we're ending this chapter. Build some suspense as to what's going to happen. God I forgot how Pam was when Emily first came out, and now having to write it, I'm so happy with the development her character went through on the show. I swear I will bring in the other girls, I just haven't found a place for them yet. It probably will be in the next chapter though, now that I'm getting comfortable with my writing, and the characters I've portrayed so far. I hope I'm portraying the characters accurately, I've been trying my best, but portraying personalities isn't my best quality. I hope you liked this chapter, and how Emily stole Alison's thunder, because it only made sense that Alison would want to make it special. Time to start the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So last chapter was a lot, but it brings in some fun conflict that will be tackled in the next few chapters. Most of this chapter was written on a bus trip to and from Washington DC, so you know there was a lot of free time. Well it's time to begin to tackle Pam dealing with her beliefs, and how it will impact Emison. Also gonna mess around with Ali's home life a little to fit some stuff.**

_Chapter 3: Unforeseen Circumstances _

Pam burst into Emily's room and saw two stunned teenage faces staring at her. As she took in her surroundings more, she noticed that her daughter and Ali were just sitting there. They weren't on the verge of some sexual act, they were just sitting close to each other. Pam watched as a look of realization came over her daughter's face that quickly turned into surprised anger.

Emily didn't know what to think. Her mom had just come barging into her room like she was about to commit some atrocity. Naturally she was angry at her mom for ruining the best moment of her life, but she couldn't just go off in her mom. So she took a moment to breathe and compose herself before saying, "We were just about to do our homework, but we got distracted by an important matter. I'm not sure what it is you want us to stop."

Alison gave a small reassuring smile to Emily for how she dodged telling her mother the truth. Ali knew that Emily was still scared of coming out to her parents, so it was no surprise that she dodged divulging the important matter they had been discussing. She knew she should back Emily up, which she did as she added to the conversation, "We really were about to do our homework Mrs. Fields. I was just distracting Em with some interesting relationship rumors I heard today." She knew she probably shouldn't have given that as their cover-up, seeing as it was their relationship, but it gave her a rush if adrenaline. And in all honesty she loved the feeling, because it was the feeling she always had around Emily. Right away she knew it was a mistake, though, because there was a look of pure anger on Pam's face, a look that rarely made an appearance.

"I know full well what you two were talking about. I'm not proud that I was eavesdropping, but I'm glad I was. It will probably be a good thing I was, seeing as you two were quick to lie to my face," Pam was far from being done with her tirade, but she saw the hurt and upset faces of the two girls in front of her and it softened her, but not enough to prevent her from continuing. "I definitely don't approve of whatever it is you two have decided you are, especially since you both lied to me. And I definitely will not allow sleepovers in the same bed now. I honestly wouldn't let them continue at all, but I know how much you need to stay here when your father drinks Ali. Now as for you Emily, when your father comes home next, we'll have to have a serious talk with him. And from now on that door stays open," and thus Pam concluded her rant by pointing at Emily's door.

Both Ali and Emily were afraid to look at Pam for fear that she would start yelling at them, but they both knew she wouldn't leave until they acknowledged what she had told them. They both managed to mumble out "Okay" in response to Pam. It was especially hard for Ali to say anything, because of what Pam had said about her dad. It was true that she didn't feel safe at home when her father was drunk, which was why she ended up spending a lot of time at Emily's house at first. Now it was both a mix of her father drinking, and her feelings for Emily. Before Pam left the room, Ali looked up at Pam and said, "Thank you so much for still giving me a place to sleep when it isn't safe with my dad. Your house is much more of a home then mine ever will be." Ali watched as Pam gave her a tense smile before leaving the room with the door open.

The two girls sat in silence for a few moments unsure of what to say to one another about what just happened. The silence was broken by Emily who let out a strangled laugh before uttering, "I can't believe that just happened. She was really spying on us, and didn't even give us a proper chance to tell her any of it."

"Hey hey, it'll all be okay. Even if we didn't tell her in the way we wanted, at least she knows. And she hasn't kicked me out, or barred us from seeing each other. We can still be together, it's just gonna take some time for her to wrap her head around this," Ali reassured as she put her hand on Emily's back and traced circles along her back.

Emily looked at Ali before replying, "I guess you're right, but this still changes everything. Plus we still have to tell the girls. It wouldn't be right to keep this from them."

Ali could tell Emily was shutting down and compartmentalizing her feelings in what had happened, but she knew better than to push Emily about opening up about the events that had just occurred. So rather than push the matter of opening up, Ali just went along with what Emily wanted to talk about, "Yeah, you're right. We can send them a text saying we need to talk to them tomorrow about something important. It might leave them in suspense all night, but at least we can't chicken out come tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's do that. It makes the most sense," Emily murmured.

Ali took her hand off of Emily's back and retrieved her phone from the nightstand and sent out a group text that read, "_Emily and I have something really important that we really need to discuss with you guys tomorrow. Let's meet up in the cafeteria before first period starts."_

It wasn't long before Spencer replied, "_You're really going to leave us hanging like that Ali?"_

The next to reply was Aria who said, "_Well I hope this isn't serious you two. And Spencer leave her be, it's important enough that we all have to be there. They obviously want to tell us in person!"_

The last to reply was Hanna, who simply replied, "_See you guys then." _No one took note of her seemingly uninterested reply to whatever was going on between Ali and Emily. Hanna always wanted to be in on the drama as soon as it happened, so for her to not be interested was out of character.

The rest of the night almost passed without incident as both Ali and Emily focused on their homework. After they were done with that, they managed to sneak in some cuddling before it was time to go to bed. The only issue arose when they were both crawling into Emily's bed to go to sleep. Pam had come to make sure they were following her instructions, and she was not pleased when she saw them both in bed.

"I thought I told you two that you had to sleep in separate places," Pam reprimanded them.

"Mom please, we're not going to do anything. You and Dad raised me to respect your rules about having sex, and I intend to follow them. Plus, there's nowhere else for me to sleep except for the floor," Emily pleaded with her mom, because she really wanted to cuddle with Ali all night.

Ali also added to the conversation, "You can trust us Mrs. Fields. We'll just sleep, I promise. I respect the rules you have in place, and I wouldn't want to get Emily into any form of trouble."

Pam sighed before caving in, "Fine. I guess you two can sleep in Emily's bed for tonight, but tomorrow I'm going to buy an air mattress for one of you to sleep on from now on."

Both girls thanked Pam, and she retreated to her room to think deeply on the events of that day. Ali cuddled into Emily, because of course Emily was the big spoon and she was the little spoon. The big spoon's job was to protect the little spoon, and that's what Emily did for Ali, she protected her. Emily was all smiles as Ali got comfortable, and then she kissed Ali on the forehead.

"Goodnight Ali. I love you," Emily whispered in her ear.

"I love you too, Em. Goodnight," Ali replied before drifting off to sleep held securely in her mermaid's arms.

**A/N: So this chapter included some drama. Needless to say, Pam is still too in shock to truly process what is going on, but she still loves her daughter fiercely. Hopefully this chapter had a nice mix of drama and some Emison fluff. I finally mentioned the other girls this chapter too! Even if it was just a minor mention. They'll be in the next chapter more for sure though. I just have to get started on that chapter now, which hopefully won't take too long.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ahhhh so episode 9 of PLLTP was absolutely insane. It was possibly the best episode of the entire season if the finale doesn't top it. Anyways, I'm hoping you're liking the story so far, and I love reading your reviews. My next task is to figure out how to reply to them, because I'm not that experienced with this app. I'm hoping I can figure it out on my laptop once I charge it. **

**This chapter provides some background information for Ali which will just further develop her character hopefully. Also for the needs of this story, Ezra is still gonna be in high school, because I'm not going to write a student/teacher relationship. So for this story, he's only going to be in high school, but a grade above the girls.**

_Chapter 4:_

Ali woke up the next morning still wrapped in Emily's arms to the sound of the alarm on her phone. She quickly pried herself out of Emily's arms and shut off her alarm trying not to wake Emily up. She knew that she should make sure Emily woke up, but she wanted to lay there a few moments longer. That hope was soon crushed whenever Pam came into the room to make sure they were both awake, but Ali knew she was mostly there to make sure nothing had happened in the night. Ali watched as Emily woke up and grumbled something to her mother to the effect that they were still decent and that nothing had happened. Pam appeared satisfied with that answer and left the doorway to go make sure breakfast wasn't burning.

"Ugh I can't believe she has no trust in me," Emily mumbled still partially asleep, "No trust in us," she quickly corrected

Ali sat up and ran a hand through her blonde hair, "I'm sure it's just temporary. She just doesn't know how to act is all. She'll actually come around to the idea of us dating," she paused momentarily before adding, "Unlike my dad. I don't want to know what he'll do." Uttering those words caused Ali to think back to the first time her father had gotten violent with her when he was drunk.

_Ali had just gotten back from hanging out at Emily's house. The two girls would alternate whose house they went to each day so that way their parents wouldn't get too mad. After all two extremely close 10 year old girls were hard to manage. Ali didn't sense anything was wrong when she got home, she was too preoccupied thinking about what she wanted to tell her parents. Only her father was home at the time, because her mom was out of town for work, and Jason was out and about with his friends._

_In fact, she had been waiting to tell her parents all day that she had a crush on someone. And it wasn't some gross boy in her grade, it was her best friend in the whole world, Emily Fields. Ali had always been drawn to Emily, but she had no idea why. That was until she had heard someone describe what soulmates were. That's when she decided that Emily Fields was her soulmate._

_So Ali ran into her father's study not noticing the overpowering odor of alcohol in the air and declared, "Daddy, I have a crush on Emily Fields! I think she's my soulmate!" She looked at her dad so full of happiness, but she was met with an angry scowl. She didn't know what to do as he stood up and approached her._

"_I did not raise my daughter to be some disgusting dyke! Not some gross perverted disgrace!" Kenneth Dilaurentis roared at his daughter. He was filled with a drunken rage that his daughter would be something so disgusting. He reached out and grabbed his daughter by the arm and roughly dragged her even closer to him. _

_Ali was surprised by the outburst and her arm was in excruciating pain from where her father had grabbed her, not to mention the pain in her shoulder from being dragged toward him. "You're hurting me," Ali cried out, but saying this only seemed to anger her father more._

"_You think this hurts?" And as Kenneth said this he tightened his grip on his daughter's arm, "You have no idea how much you hurt __me_ _when you burst in here all excited you had a crush on a girl." Kenneth stared at his daughter and contemplated what to do next when he heard the front door open signaling that Jason had decided to come home._

_Kenneth quickly let go of his daughter's arm before Jason walked into the room and proceeded to walk back to his desk. The scene Jason walked into was of his drunken father staring daggers at his crying sister_

Ali was pulled out of her memory by Emily trying to get her attention, and by this time Emily had gotten out of bed and was staring down at Ali. "What was that?" Ali asked still reliving her memory and bearing the scars of it, as her shoulder never truly healed from her father dragging her.

Emily looked down at Ali with concern all over her face, "I just asked if you were going to ever get up. But I think I should have asked if you were okay. Where did you go?"

"What do you mean? I didn't go anywhere. I'm still here in your bed," Ali retorted.

"You know that's not what I meant. You went somewhere in your head. Right after you mentioned your father. Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asked, deeply wishing the blonde would open up about what her father had done to her.

Ali looked away from Emily, because she never told Emily why her father had started abusing her when they were alone. She felt horrible about it, but she knew if she told Emily the reason it started, Emily would blame herself. She feared as it was that Emily would figure it out as to what had started it all based in comments she made here and there, much like the one this morning. "No, no. I'm fine, really. It was nothing. Let's just get ready and head to school," Ali finally replied.

-_Later at school before classes start_-

Ali and Emily walk into the cafeteria and head towards their usual table where their three friends are currently waiting for them.

"Nice of you two to show up. Now what is it you wanted to tell us?" Hanna was quick to call them out on being late to their own meeting and quick to jump into business.

"Hanna! You could at least let them sit down first before you start your interrogation," Spencer quickly scolded.

Hanna just looked at Spencer and shrugged before saying, "Just thought we could get right down to business."

By this time Ali and Emily had both sat down next to each other. Ali was the one to take the lead with what her and Emily had to tell the girls, "Well, we don't know how you guys will react to what we have to tell you. And it's very new to the two of us, but we thought you three should know."

By this point Ali had three sets of eyes looking at her waiting for her to finish her story, but she was struggling to finish it. She was still shaken up by her memory from this morning, because she was scared of what her father would do when he found out. Her mom tried to be home as much as she could, but work constantly called her out of town, and Jason was only around occasionally. They both tried to look out for her the best they could, but Ali had never told them the extent of what happened and what had sparked it. No one even knew how long it had gone on except for Ali and her dad. It had only been discovered when Ali was 13 after Emily had noticed a bruise and had questioned Ali about it. Everyone knew the bare minimum, but it had never been reported to the police. Jessica didn't want to tarnish her reputation in the town, so Ali's parents had reached some form of agreement with Emily's parents that Ali would mostly spend time at their house.

Aria noticing her friend wasn't going to continue on her own decided to ask, "What should we know Ali?" She gave a small smile to Ali when Ali looked at her.

Emily slid her hand under the table and grabbed Ali's hand giving it a slight squeeze for reassurance. "I can tell them if you want," Emily said. Ali gave her an appreciative nod, so Emily continued by stating, "Ali and I both realized something yesterday. Something huge that we both admitted to each other. We both confessed our feelings for each other, and I asked Ali to be my girlfriend. Which she of course agreed to."

No one said anything for a moment, but the silence was broken by Spencer who asked, "Emily, isn't your mother against that? What are you two going to do when she finds out?"

Hanna piped in, "Yeah, she's going to probably make Ali actually go to her own house for once. I guess it should've been obvious you two liked each other since Ali sleeps over at your house virtually every night."

Ali shifted uncomfortably in her seat, because Emily was the only one at the table who knew there was a darker reason for Ali never being at her own home. She looked up at her friends and said, "Her mom already found out about us somehow. She must've been eavesdropping outside of Emily's door and overheard us talking. She hasn't banned me from sleeping over every night though. I'll probably just have to sleep in a different room or something."

"Hey, that's a good thing though. You two still get to hang out constantly. I know my parents wouldn't let my boyfriend sleepover every night," Aria said before continuing, "In fact, it would be a miracle if he even got to sleep over at all."

Emily looked at Ali before quickly shifting her gaze to Aria, "You're right Aria. It's just I have no clue what kind of crazy things my mom will do now. She's already enacted an open door policy."

"So, why is you mom still letting sleepovers happen Emily? She's more strict than Aria's parents, so what's the deal?" Hanna asked having no filter whatsoever just like always.

Spencer noticed as Ali shifted in her seat yet again. "Han, maybe Emily's mom just doesn't want to push her daughter away. And in all honesty I should say daughters, because she does treat Ali like a daughter," Spencer said defending both Ali and Emily, which got her a thankful smile from both girls. However, Spencer had no idea just how thankful both girls were for her defense.

Before anything else could be said, the bell went off signaling that everyone should be moving to their first period class. All five girls stood up and collected their belongings before heading off to their classes. Emily gave Ali a gentle hugs before they started walking towards the first period class they all had together.

The morning passed by uneventfully. The only thing off was that Ali seemed to be lost in thought and hadn't even noticed when her geometry teacher had called on her in class, which garnered giggles from her classmates. That is, until she shot those people death glares which promptly shut them up.

Emily was fully aware of how different Ali was acting today, and she knew it had to have something to do with what had happened this morning. She knew there was a lot she didn't know about what Ali's dad had done to Ali, but she was determined to find out. She knew it haunted Ali every day in some way, even though Ali never let on. Emily was aware of Alison's messed up shoulder, because it was what had made Ali shift over to playing sports left-handed. Emily knew she was going to have to talk to Ali about her father's abuse, and she hoped to get answers after school.

**A/N: This chapter had a lot (I think) to unload, and there's more to come more than likely depending on how I write it out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was definitely a tough one to write. From all perspectives it was, the nature of the content, and then my own lack of experience writing made it tough. There's still more to come with this story, but Emison will always end happy with me, even if there are struggles along the way. I'm also getting a new story idea, but I'm hoping I finish this one before I let myself ditch this story for the new one.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I can't believe the PLL: The Perfectionists season finale is on tonight! It feels like the show just started. I hope it blows us all away, because the promo made this episode seem so dark.**

**I may have low-key lost where I was going with this fanfic, but never fear! I shall rediscover it. I just got myself distracted with other fanfic ideas and my summer classes are starting. So needless to say I did this to myself. I'm trying to tell myself I need to finish this fanfic before I start a new one, but my brain doesn't want to listen. Also I think I might have discovered a minor plothole, but it's not major so I won't bring it up ever again. Regardless, here's the next chapter **

_Chapter 5:_

Later that day as Ali and Emily were headed back to Emily's house, Emily worked up the courage to ask Ali what she had been wanting to ask all day. "Ali, you've been really distant all day ever since you brought up your dad this morning. What exactly did he do to you that you're scared of him finding out? I know it only happened the one time and I found out but-," Ali cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"It wasn't just that one time," Ali whispered out. "I just went along with everyone that it was that one time. It went on for three years before you found out Em. I just never wanted to tell anyone that. He's the reason for my shoulder. I know I told you that it was an accident, but it was ruined by him," she managed to continue on before Emily wrapped her arms around Ali in a hug.

Emily kissed the top of Ali's head before saying, "I'm sorry Ali, I had no clue. I should've put the pieces together. I can't believe I never noticed sooner. He shouldn't get to roam the world after everything he's done to you!"

Ali sighed before pulling away from Emily's warm embrace. "It doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done. The one good thing to become of it was that I got to spend everyday with you. Now come on, let's get to your house before it's ten o'clock and your mom is sending out a search party," Ali started walking again hoping Emily would get that the conversation was over.

Emily stared after Ali for a second before taking a deep breath and following after her. The rest of the walk back to Emily's house passed in silence as the only thing Emily wanted to talk about was Ali's past, but Ali wanted to talk about everything but that.

Once they reached the Fields residence, they went up to Emily's room to start on homework. Pam wasn't home yet to micromanage every little interaction, so they didn't have to abide by any of her rules. Before they even started on homework, though, Ali's resolve was slowly crumbling. In fact, she was starting to shake which Emily quickly noticed.

Emily moved over towards Ali and grasped her hand before asking, "Hey are you alright?" She knew what the answer was, but there wasn't much else she could ask.

Ali looked at Emily with a thousand different snarky comebacks, but all she could do was shake her head. She had too many memories flashing through her mind of her father, and how he made sure Ali's crush on Emily was associated with pain. How he made her grow up way before she was ready. How he hardened her loving self into someone who pushed everyone away, except those she was closest with at the time. There were a lot of memories that she had repressed and compartmentalized deep within herself, but with everything to have happened, they were all resurfacing. She knew her father couldn't do anything to her now without the police intervening, but she was still horrified that he would do something to her for acting upon her feelings for Emily. Ali really only saw her father on holidays since the abuse was discovered, but even that was rare. She always managed to avoid him or not attend gatherings at all. She knew she had to open up to Emily, but she feared what Emily would think or do if she told her why it started and what all happened. Ali had no idea when she had started crying, but she was suddenly overcome with her emotions and was soon sobbing. Her pain was made better by Emily, who eased her onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Ali to comfort her.

Emily held onto Ali for almost fifteen minutes before Ali's sobbing subsided. The whole time Ali was sobbing Emily did what she could to calm her girlfriend, but Ali just had to get all the pent up emotions out. Emily was startled when she heard Ali speak to her.

"E-Em, I need to tell you everything I can. I need to get it off my chest. I don't know what'll happen once I tell you, but you need to know," Ali managed to get out.

"Hey, hey, you don't have to tell me anything unless you are completely ready to tell me. I want you to be sure of what you want to say and when you want to say it. As much as I want to know, nothing is more important than how you feel about wanting to tell me," Emily reassured the sniffling girl in her arms.

Ali took a deep breath before leaving Emily's embrace and turning to look at her. "I'll never be ready to tell you. That's the point. But I want to tell you. It's a terrible part of my life, but _you _were always there to make things better whether you knew it or not. You were my rock in those times," Ali smiled at Emily saying the last part.

Emily nodded taking in what Ali was saying. "If you're sure about telling me. You have my undivided attention," Emily stated while smiling reassuringly at the girl in front of her.

Ali took a minute to think about what she wanted to say before starting, "He started abusing me when I was ten. It was a few days after Mrs Walters had told us about soulmates, because of some story we had been reading," Ali stopped for a minute. She continued on with Emily attentively listening, "You and your mom had just dropped me off at my house. I remember I had tried to be as close as I could to you that day," Emily nodded as if remembering and Ali continued on, "There was a reason for that Em. The soulmate conversation was still fresh in my head, and even at that age I knew I was drawn to you. I had planned on telling you the next day, but I wanted to tell my parents first." Alison had drifted off being taking back to that day yet again.

Noticing Ali was in her head, Emily asked, "What were you going to tell me?"

Ali blinked before focusing her gaze back on Emily, "Sorry. It's just hard talking about it, but I need to." Ali picked up with her story, "I wanted to tell them that I had a crush on you, because even at the age of ten, I knew you were the one for me," Emily let out a small gasp at this news but let Ali continue, "I didn't realize my dad was drunk. I was too preoccupied with telling him about my crush. It wasn't until I told him and he started yelling and getting violent that I realized. Over the course of the next three years he would verbally and physically abuse me when no one else was around. Because of him, I shut my feelings for you away. I told myself that I shouldn't feel that way. I hurt you in the process at times because of it, in fact, I hurt many people because I became someone I didn't want to be because of him. And I know I had some control in the person I became, but it was so easy to not try to be better than who I was. You saw through it all though, you always saw the same loving girl you did from when we met. I should've told you as soon as it happened, but I was scared. I was so scared about what would happen if I told anyone, so I stayed silent for three years until you noticed the bruise. A part of me thinks I made sure you saw it that way my abuse could come to an end, but I'll never know for sure," Ali paused thinking about what she wanted to say next. She continued on, "I think the only reason I've accepted my feelings now is because I've been away from his abuse for three years now. I think the pain he caused is slowly starting to heal, at least in the sense that I now know how I felt about you wasn't wrong. That I'm not sick, that how I feel is perfectly human. I don't think I'll ever truly heal from what he did to me, but I'm just glad I'm able to admit how I feel for you." Ali gave a shaky smile to Emily signaling she was done for the moment with her story.

Before Emily could say anything in response, she heard the front door open signaling that her mom was home. Emily sighed knowing her room was the first place her mom would come. "I love you so much Ali. We can finish this conversation later," Emily said to Ali as she heard her mom come up the stairs.

Pam walked up to Emily's room knowing she wasn't her daughter's favorite person at the moment. She just felt like she had to talk to her daughter, so that's what led her to Emily's room. Pam smiled to herself when she saw that Emily had in fact left her bedroom door wide open. She then proceeded to stand in the open doorway and ask the girls, "Hey you two. How was school today?"

It was actually Ali who answered Pam first. She plastered a smile on her face and answered, "It was fairly okay. Our one teacher assigned this huge project to do though, which was the only bad part of the day." Ali didn't want Pam to know about her unusual behavior all day, and she definitely hoped Pam would never learn the details of the conversation she had just had with Emily.

Emily nodded along with what Ali said, before adding, "The project isn't that bad actually. It's a group project and Ali and I are partners for it. We'll have it done in no time."

Pam looked at the two girls in front of her whom she had both raised. It was at that moment that she realized that she may not necessarily agree with the fact that they were dating, but the girls were also the happiest she had ever seen them. Pam had seen the way Ali looked at her daughter, it was a look similar to the one she gave her husband. One of complete adoration and love. Her daughter looked at Ali in the same way too. She did want her daughter to be happy and to find love, so if Ali was who the one that she loved, who was she to prevent it. She knew if she argued with her daughter about this she would risk losing Emily forever. So pushing her negative thoughts away her replied, "I'm sure you two will get that project done quickly. And girls, I'm sorry about last night. I overreacted. You two bring out the best in each other, and I can't destroy that, because that only happens once in a lifetime. I'm going to go start supper now." And with that she turned and went downstairs leaving two stunned lovers on the bed.

"Did she just?" Emily couldn't even get out a coherent thought, she was still shocked by what her mother had said. She couldn't believe her mother would change her opinion so quickly.

"I think she did. She's okay with us dating. I can't believe it," Ali managed to reply.

Both girls sat in thought wondering what Pam's sudden change of heart meant. They both had a feeling that Pam wasn't totally okay with it, but that she was warming up to the idea. They sat in silence unsure of what to say until the silence was eventually broken by Ali.

"Em, what do you think caused your mom's change of heart?" Ali asked, because she couldn't figure out what would change Pam's mind.

Emily knit her eyebrows in thought for a moment before replying, "I'm not really sure, but I think we should just be glad she did. It couldn't have been easy for her. I think she's still processing it in all honesty."

Ali nodded before flopping back onto the bed exhausted from sharing the darkest part of her life. She wasn't surprised when Emily laid down next to her. Ali turned her face to look into her girlfriend's eyes, before looking down at her lips then back up to her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to kiss Emily, but she had to know Emily's thoughts on what she had told her. So as hard as it was she refrained from kissing Emily and instead questioned, "So how about we finish that conversation. What are your thoughts?"

Emily stared at her shocked, "My thoughts Ali? My thoughts are that your father is a piece of shit that should be behind bars. But I also recognize that you were scared, and I wish you had told me that it was happening. You could've been spared three years of abuse, and you wouldn't have had to become someone you weren't. You would not have had to hide a part of who you are. However, we could sit here listing all the things you could have done, but it would be a waste of time, because what happened, happened. There is no changing it, there is only moving forward. And look," Emily hesitated as she wanted to get the phrasing of her next few words right, "Pip gets Estella in the end. It was always going to be you that I wanted to spend forever with. Even if it meant loving you against all discouragement that could me."

Before Ali's mind could stop herself she leaned forward and kissed Emily, because Emily remembering something as silly as a book plot made Ali love Emily even more. Ali pulled away before their kiss could escalate into a full make out session, because with Pam right downstairs, Ali just couldn't do that. She smirked at the dazed look on Emily's face and commented, "That was for being your amazing self and always knowing what to say. And for remembering what I told you about _Great Expectations_, because let me tell you, it was cute."

"Well I am to be just that. I meant everything I said Ali. I will forever be in love with you," Emily stated with complete conviction in her voice.

Ali smiled at Emily-with the most genuine smile Emily had ever seen-before replying, "Well that's a good thing, because it just so happens that I will forever be in love with you too. So it looks like this works out for the both of us."

**A/N: I felt ending on a happy note would be fun. I know I need to talk about Ali's father more and how that'll end up working but this feels like such a good ending. Curse my writing. I just feel like it's so wrapped up now, even though there's this whole other problem I have to talk about. I really don't know what I'm going to do. I might take a break from this story and start another one while I ponder it, because I dug myself into a hole that I have to get out of now.**


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